Portable partition for freight-cars.



A. C. SCOTT. PORTABLE PARTITION FOR FREIGHT CARS.

APPLICATION FILED` MAR. I, I9I6.

Patented July Z, 1916.

I A. C. SC OH', 3mm/whoa,

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'ALLEN c. sco'r'r, or OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

,PORTABLE PARTITION EORlFREIGHT-CARS.

Tour/ZZ 'whom 'it may concern.: I

Be it known that I, ALLEN C. Soo'r'r, va citizen of the United States, residing at Qmaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Partitions for Freight-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

f My invention relates to attachments for.

railway cars, and it is the object thereof to provide a removable temporary partition advantageous to be able to'use one end of a .refrigerator car for freshmeats and the like, which'must be kept cold, and the other end of the samecar for fruits and vegetables which, in winter, must be prevented from freezing by the use of a suitable heater. It*

has been found that this may be donequite efficiently by sepalrating the two parts of the car with a simple partitionof canvas or duck, suchl as is used for tents, the one end 9,0"of the car being iced and maintaining al temperature of about freezing, while the .i other end `of the car is provided with a heater capable of maintaining the sameV at- -a temperature as high 'as 70 or 80 degrees 3.5 F. L When the partition is .formed merely from a sheet of canvas, however, i't is not' easily placed and-held in proper position, and the vspecial object of my inven'tion is to provlde j means .facilitating the placing,

' 1.40 retention, removal and reshipment of suchy f a temporary partition as above described.l

In the accompanyingdrawings Figure l is a 'transverse vertical section through the body of a refrigerator car, showing in elevation ahpa'rtition embodying my invention,

' Fig.` 2 is a vertical section on the plane of the une Qf-.e in rig. 1, and rig. e is a. han.

zontal section,` looking upward from the y plane of the line 3 3 in Flg. 1". a@ l o I-n carrying out my invention in the Irrev ferred form shown in the, drawings, I prof vide a metal'frame which -is foldable and adjustable in size suiiiciently to `enable`the use thereof in cars of such varying sizes as are in common use'. 'Ihemain members'of Y the frame are of ang1e1ronthere being Specicationof Letters Patent.

'twoside pieces 4 and 5, and an upper or top piece 6. S ecially constructed hlnges 7 and 8 areA xedly secured to the upper ends of the side-pieces. The loose leaf 9 of each hinge isvslotted longitudinally as shown in Fig. 3 'and is adjustably connected with the Patented July 25, 1916. .y Application filed March 1', 1916. Serial No. 81,491.

top piece 6 byvmeans of suit-able studs which are secured to -the piece 6,eXtend through the slots, and have on their lower ends wingL nuts 10 whlch engage the parts 9 and clamp :them against the flange ofthe bar 6.. At

their lower ends the side-pieces 4 and 5 have yextension legs 11, therv same being slotted vertically for adjustable connection vwith the side-pieces, and'having their lower ends pointed for yengagement with the floorof studs which extend through the slots in the members 11, and onsaid studsl the wingnuts'f12 are screwed to clamp the, parts together in adjusted relations.

the car. Thes'ide-pieces are provided with To the described frame there arepermanently attached, as by rivets 13, the upper `and VVlateral edges of a canvas sheetv com,- `prising two portions 14 and 15 overlapping at the center, the-overlapped iapsv being separably connected by tie-ropes 16v passedthrough suitable eyelets 17. The size of I the canvas sheet, as a whole', -i'ssuch that it'v will be justv the proper width and height when the frame is adjusted to its largest size by moving'the side-pieces 4 and 5 outwardly as' far as possible, and moving the vextension-pieces 11 down as far as os'sible.

For use in cars smaller than the Ximum tween the side-pieces and the end of f the .top pieceof the frame, as shownfin Fig. 3, vwhile Dany excess material left at-the lower edge may lie on the floor of the car as shown in Fig. 2. After the frame is suitably adjusted in size and placed in vthe desired position, -it is securedftothe walls and ceiling of the carA by driving nails 18 throughl suitable apertures in the flanges of the sidepieces 4 and 5; and the top piece 6. Preferably, a special double-headed nail 18l is used so that it maybe easily (pulled out when the partition is yto be taken own.

i Whenthe partition is not in use'or when it is desired/.to reship the saine, it maybe folded and rolled intoL a small package, 4in

'the following manner: Laying *the frame fiat on a floor or other fiat surface,the"side size of the frame, the/'canvas is merely left loose andy bulging at Athe-lateral edges beloo bars 4 and 5 are moved outwardly with re- A spect-to the top bar 6 as far as permitted by the slots in the hinge-members 9, thus drawing the canvas sheet smooth and taut. The side-pieces are then folded in to positions parallel with the top .piece 6, moving about the axes of the hinges 7 and 8 as indicated by the arcuate arrows in Fig. l. This folding of the frame is made possible by the fact that the pintle of the hinge 7 for the side-piece 4 is lowered a distance equal to the thickness of the flange of the cross-piece 6, and the pintle of the hinge 8 for the sidepiece 5 is similarly lowered, but for a greater distance, below the horizontal flange of the cross-piece, as vshown in Fig. l.

Referring to Fig. 3 it will be seen that the inwardly extending flanges of the bars 4, 5 and 6 do not lie inthe same plane. The flangeon the side-'piece 4, when the frame is folded, will be on the inside of the flange on the top-piece 6, while the flange of the sidepiece 5 'will be on the opposite side of said flange of the top-piece 6. This offsetting of the frame members by amounts equal to the thickness of the flanges enables the frame to be folded into the most compact package. When the side-pieces have been swung in to the folded positions above described, the canvas sheet is found to be folded into a.

. triangular form, and the folded sheet is then rolled around the bars 4, 5 and 6, which are then parallel, and the roll secured in a bundle by tying the same with One or more of the tie-ropes 16. The compact roll or bundle thus formed may be economically reshipped, and may be readily unrolled and extended when again desired for use.

It may be noted that in actual use they frame may be proportionately much smaller and lighter in weight than is represented in the drawings, wherein for convenience of illustration the frame is made disproportionately large.

Now,having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: p

1. A partition for freight cars, comprising a frame having a top-member, and sidemembers foldably and adjustably connected with thc ends of the top-lnemberj, a flexible curtain having its upper and lateral edges l secured respectively to the top and side members of the frame, and means for detachably securing the frame in vertical transverse position within a car.

2. The combination with a refrigerator car, of a temporary partition disposed vertically and transversely in said car, said partition comprising an upper horizontal framemember detachably securedto the ceiling of the car, vertical frame-members connectedl terminally with the upper frame-member and detachably secured to the sides of the car, means for adjusting the position of the vertical members transversely, and a twopart centrally-divided flexible curtain having its upper and lateral edges secured to said frame-members.

3. A temporary artition for freight cars, comprising a folda le frame having a transverse upper member, and extensible vertical side-members connected with the ends of the upper member and foldable to positions parallel therewith, and a fabric sheet secured to said frame so that its upper and lateral edges may be held thereby in engagement with the ceiling and sides of a car.

4. A temporary partition for freight cars, comprising a two-part fabric curtain and an ladjustable frame for sustaining said curtain in vertical position with its edges engaging the ceiling and sides of a car, said frame consisting of a horizontal upper member, and extensible vertical side-members having their upper ends connected with the ends of the upper member in variable longitudinal relation thereto.

5. In a device of the class described, a foldable and adjustable frame/comprising an upper horizontally-disposed metal anglebar, angle-iron side-bars, hinges secured to the upper ends of said side-bars, and means for securing said hinges in variable longitudinal relation to the end-portions of the upper bar, said hinges being offset to enable the folding of the side-bars to positions parallel with the upper bar and with the flanges thereof overlapping the same.

6. The combination with a car of the class described, of a partition removably secured in vertical transverse position therein so as to divide the same longitudinally into separate compartments, said partition comprising a fabric curtain, a foldable frame for holding the upper and lateral edges of the curtain in engagement respectively with the ceiling and side-walls of the car, and means for detachably securing said frame to the car-body.

7 In a device of the cla-ss described, ai

tion to they end-portions of the upper mem- ,ber, floor engaging extension pieces,Vl and means for securing'the same in adjusted vertical relation to the lower end-portions of the'side-members.

A. C. SCOTT. 

